


Brothers In Arms

by rudbeckia



Category: Dredd (2012), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Brothers, Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6417313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia





	1. Painless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jathis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/gifts).



Hux wondered when the technician would stop jumping in fear when he opened the door to his workroom. Nobody else had the access code, and yet the techie shrunk in his seat, pushed himself away, clutched his arms around his gut and doubled over, long red hair hiding his face when he heard Hux’s boots approach.

“It’s me, Bren.”  
Hux always said the same thing and it always had the same effect. The younger man’s shoulders dropped, his chair returned to its usual position and his eyes… those disturbing eyes… returned to the screen in front of him.  
“That’s not my name.”

Hux sighed.  
“You are still Bren Hux, my brother, whatever you choose to name yourself. I want to call you Bren, like I used to.”  
The odd, unkempt man shook his head.  
“I am not that person any more. Call me techie. Like you get called General.”

“Techie.” Hux sat. “Very well. I thought… I hoped taking you out of that place would help you get better.”  
Techie turned his head to stare at Hux, red rims enhancing the blue of his cybernetic irises.  
“Better? Better than what?”  
“Just better. Able to cope.”  
“I survived, didn’t I?” Techie looked up and Hux almost laughed at the once-familiar streak of defiance in his face.  
“I promise you can do more than survive here. Work for me, you will be safe.”

Techie shook his head.  
“I ca-can’t. I saw.”  
“What do you mean?” Hux frowned at his brother. “Saw what?”  
“I saw what you made.” Techie pointed to the desplay in front of him. Hux took a sharp breath in.  
“How did you get the access codes for the Starkiller base blueprints? Bren, who told you the codes?”  
Techie shrank from Hux’s sharp tone.  
“No one!” Techie shrieked. “I did it! Don’t don’t don’t...”

Techie’s head sank down again and his arms found their protective position around his midriff. Hux closed his eyes and spoke gently.  
“I am not going to hurt you, Bren. Look at me.”  
Techie looked up at his older brother. He did not flinch away when Hux stroked the hair from his eyes.  
“How did you access those files? I want to know. You were always so clever.”  
Techie smiled and Hux felt terrible.  
“I f-found sectors of memory locked out and I opened them. It’s what I do. I can see everything.”  
Hux nodded.  
“Of course you can, Bren.”

Hux stood and invited Techie to stand too. He held out one arm for an embrace. Techie hung back, but a small memory sparked in his brain. He put down the shiny copper wires he had been twiddling between finger and thumb and stood fo receive his brother’s embrace.

“Did I do good?”  
“Yes,” Hux murmured in Bren’s ear. ”You did good.”  
Hux had told the truth. Bren did not feel any pain as his lifeless form hit the ground. Hux holstered his weapon, wiped his face and marched out.


	2. Injury

Hux woke with a cry and lay in sheets damp with his own cooling sweat. In the half-consciousness of sudden awakening from a dream, The general could still hear the thud of his brother’s skull hitting the hard floor and smell the metallic tang of blood. He took a deep breath, afraid to close his eyes in case the nightmare returned. Instead, he rose from his bed, pulled the sheets back to let them air and took a shower. 

Checking the time, Hux worked out he had been asleep for three hours. With no desire to get back into bed, he dressed and headed for the medbays. The single stormtrooper on sentry duty outside the room Hux paused at saluted smartly.  
“Go,” Hux snapped. “I will take over.”  
“Sir!”  
The stormtrooper did not wait for his superior to change his mind but marched smartly away.

Hux entered the medbay and closed the door behind him. In the dim light he could see the single occupant, lying on the floor, foot still on the bed twisted in the sheet and eyes open, weakly trying to move.  
“Bren!”  
Hux freed his brother’s foot from the covers and picked the man up easily, fury rising at how skeletal his frame was and how his eyes, permanently reddened and weeping from some reaction to the materials of their cybernetic construction, stared in fright at every sudden movement or unexpected sound. He swallowed his anger lest Bren pick up on it and shrink from him in fear.

“Let me, please,” Hux held his hands either side of his brother’s head. “You could have hurt yourself. Let me check for injury.”  
The weaker man looked around.  
“Ma-ma was here for her techie. I thought I saw, she had a knife, I t-tried to run but...”  
“Hush, Bren, it was a bad dream. I had one too, a bad dream.”  
Bren nodded. Hux stroked damp hair back from Bren’s forehead and carefully felt for injury. He checked head, shoulders, arms, torso, legs, methodically working down and asking Bren if he felt pain. Bren scratched at his eyes but Hux held his wrists and pulled his hands back from his face. Hux reached for the atomiser on Bren’s bedside tray.  
“Open your eyes for me?”  
Bren did as his older brother asked. Hux sprayed the colourless liquid over both eyes and Bren blinked rapidly, sighing as the itch numbed.

Hux reclined on the bed beside Bren, an arm around him, the way he used to when they were children, before Bren’s abduction.  
“You do not have to fear anything from Ma-ma. I promise, she cannot touch you.”  
“What if she needs her techie and comes for me?’  
“I promise she will not.” Hux squeezed his brother’s shoulders once and closed his eyes. “I watched her die.”  
Bren swivelled his head to see his brother’s face.  
“Did you hurt her a lot?”  
In reply, Hux only smiled.


	3. Storm

Hux made a point of speaking softly to his brother.  
“Nobody knows who you are except for you and me. It has to remain se--”  
“No.” Techie’s voice was accompanied by a firm shake of his head that made his lank red hair flick from side to side. “I know who I am. You know who I used to be.”

Hux pressed his lips together.   
“The point is that no one must find out that I have a connection to you. Supreme Leader Snoke does not encourage attachments. Bren, you are still my brother.”  
“Oh.” Techie nodded. “I see. What have you said about me?”  
“That you are an expert at retrieving data and will be useful to the First Order when you are well.”  
“Is Snoke like Ma-ma?”  
Hux considered for a moment the scarred face, the threats and absolute insistence on getting exactly what was desired.   
“Yes, I suppose he is.”  
“Then I won’t have a choice, will I?”

The storm came moments later, pelting down the corridor to the medbay, hooded cloak flapping as if caught in a whirlwind, boots thundering on the floor.  
“GENERAL!”  
Hux froze, Techie tried to scramble out of bed but couldn’t, instead fisting his hands into the covers, twisting and pulling at the rough fabric. Ren entered the room, his presence dominating the small space and crowding the terrified Techie. Ren held a hand out close to Techie’s face. Techie shrieked as if burned and tried to twist away.

“STOP!”  
Hux launched himself at Ren, knocking him sideways. Ren stumbled but recovered, turning his attention on the older Hux. Techie slipped out of bed and hid under the bunk, pulling a blanket with him. Hux rained blows on Ren’s midriff, head down and shoulders hunched until Ren threw him off and pinned him against the wall with a gesture.

“You fool!” Ren spat the words out. “He could ruin everything! His mind is weak, Snoke will read him, Snoke will know everything he thinks in a heartbeat. Get rid of him.”  
Hux could not reply, the force holding his chest to the wall did not allow him enough breath for words. Ren dropped Hux to the floor, turned and marched out.

Techie lay curled in on himself under the bunk. Hux scooted over and reached a hand to his head, stroking and making soothing sounds at his brother.  
“Wa-wa-wa-was that him? Was that Sn-noke?”  
“Ha!” Hux snorted in derision. “No, that was Snoke’s lapdog, Kylo Ren. You do not need to fear him. Snoke knows your usefulness and Ren would not dare go against Snoke’s will. I will not send you away.”  
Techie twisted his head to look out at his brother.  
“I wish you would.”


	4. Space Ace

Hux looked up as his brother came into the room.  
“You look good in your new uniform, Bren. Have you been to the mess hall to show off yet?”  
“No,” Techie jittered from foot to foot, head down, hands twisting his tunic, watching his own nervous jig. “Please call me Techie. Everyone calls me Techie. And you don’t want anyone to know I’m a Hux.”  
Hux nodded once. His brother made sense.  
“I will call you Techie. Do you have everything you need?”  
“Yes,” Techie nodded. “You can leave me to work, I don’t need supervision.”  
Hux sighed then nodded once more.  
“Fine. I will come back later.” Techie glanced up. “Okay?” Techie’s head went down, nodding, his hair restrained in a band at the back of his neck. General Hux did not have the heart to make him have it cropped, and in any case it might make their sibling similarity more noticeable.

Hux returned to the conference room an hour later to find his brother head and shoulders inside an access hatch under the desk and a stormtrooper leaning nonchalantly against the wall, helmet under their arm, watching him. Hux barked an order,  
“Trooper, attend to your duty. In correct uniform.”  
“Yes sir,” the trooper stood to attention and replaced their helmet, casting another long look at Techie before leaving. Techie emerged and sat on the floor, tapping at a datapad and frowning.

“Is there a problem?”  
Techie nodded.  
“Asked when my shift ends, did I want to go to their quarters.”  
Hux flashed a grin.  
“Well, the Huxes are handsome. What did you say?”  
Techie shook his head.  
“I said nothankyou.”  
“That trooper not your type?” Hux smiled. “I’m sure if you describe--”  
“No!” Techie resumed work. “I have no type.”  
“No?”  
“Master Ren is your type.” Techie grinned and sniggered. “I’ve seen the way you look at him.”  
“What!” Hux’s jaw dropped.  
“But I don’t want that. I’m not… driven that way.”  
“Oh. Then I won’t mention it again.” Hux tapped his fingers on the desk. “As long as you don’t either.”


	5. Suggestion

It was not often that Hux saw the mischievous gleam in Techie's face. His younger brother was in the command centre to fix a software issue probably caused by one of Ren's rages damaging a workstation's memory module. 

"Mitaka, relay my order that one unit be dispached to extract Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma from our agreed rendezvous point."

Mitaka communicated the order with no need for further clarification. Hux let a smile twitch the corners of his mouth just for a second at Techie's murmured suggestion.  
"Tempting though it is, Techie, we do need Phasma and Ren to complete this entire mission successfully. I have to send a unit for their extraction from the Hutts' palace. I can't leave them there indefinitely."


	6. Mean

"Hush Bren... Techie. He doesn't mean it."  
General Hux put his hand on his brother's arm. Not to restrain him, exactly, more as a reminder that he did not have to fight or run.  
"He does, Brendol, I can feel it. Can't you feel it?"  
Hux glzed into his brother's too-blue eyes, the redness of his eyelids emphasising the colour of the cybernetic irises.  
"Have you used your medication?" The junior Hux dropped his head. Hux sighed. "Go get it. You should carry it with you on duty so that you do not have to take time off to fetch it."

Techie scuttled away. Hux glared at Ren.  
"You should not have said that."  
"Why not?" Ren said, "He should know the truth. Your father would have killed him for his weakness and you should too."


	7. Separation

Techie looked around his new quarters and examined his new duty rotation. He looked at Hux with an expression that was almost an accusation on its own.  
"You put me on the same shifts as you, Brendol. And this bunkroom is near yours. Are you watching me? In case I fuck up?"

"No," Hux frowned back. "Bren, Techie, I want you to be my first call if I need a technician. I need you on my shift pattern and I need you nearby when off duty. Is that clear?"

Techie relaxed his worried scowl a little.  
"So you're not waiting for me to make a mistake, you want me around?"

Hux shook his head but did not smile yet.  
"I trust you, Bren. I need a technician who won't gossip."

"Oh." Techie bit his lip and rubbed at his eyes. He saw his brother the General twitch a hand as if to stop him from scrating and making the redness worse. Techie pulled his atomiser from a pocket and used it to soothe his irritated skin.

"And I missed you." Hux admitted with an embarrassed grin. "We've been separated for too long."


	8. Confused

"Are you fucking kidding me, Brendol? You want to walk right in there?"  
Techie took a step back from his brother. Hux bristled, equally glad his brother felt comfortable enough to challenge him and irritated that he took their shared parentage as a licence to question his position in front of others. Even Ren held his breath and Phasma put a hand on her blaster. 

"Sithdamnit, your plan is stupid!"  
"SIT DOWN!" Hux yelled at his brother and regretted it when Techie collapsed immediately into a chair and fisted his hands into the hem of his tunic, breathing rapid and shallow. Hux repressed the urge to apologise, take Bren's hands and calm him. The General, Ren and Phasma took their places around the table. 

Hux lowered his voice and leaned forward.  
"Our plan needs your skills, Techie. We must be able to communicate undetected. Snoke will detect use of the Force but technology may escape his notice. You want to be free of this... this fear that you will be captured and enslaved again?" Techie blinked rapidly and nodded. "Then shut up, listen, and only interrupt when you have something constructive to say."

Unseen by the glaring Hux brothers, Ren and Phasma exchanged a nod. General Hux continued his strategy briefing. He only got three sentences out before Techie's head came up once more and he shot to his feet, chair toppled over backwards behind him. Techie looked over his shoulders, left and right, pointed at Ren and rubbed at his tunic fabric. 

"I'm too confused. You want me to hack into Snoke's systems and make your plans invisible to him. But HE," Techie glanced once at Ren, "has been in contact with Snoke all along, telling him ev..." 

Ren leapt to his feet and pulled his lightsaber out. Techie took a step back and tripped over his chair. Ren's voice growled from his voice modulator.  
"You dare monitor my private communication?"

"Phasma ordered me to do it!" Techie's voice came high and fast from the floor. "I told Brendol and he agreed."  
Ren turned to face his co-commanders.  
"Snoke must continue to believe that I am working to further his interests above my own. You have no choice but to trust me. My treachery must come as a surprise or he will crush us all in the space between heartbeats."


End file.
